Henry Bell

Replica of the Comet in Port Glasgow

Henry Bell lived from 7 April 1767 to 14 March 1830. He made his
name by building the the paddle steamer PS Comet
and, in 1812, using it to run Europe's first commercially viable passenger
steamboat service on the River Clyde between
Glasgow and
Greenock. The wider picture in
Scotland at the time is set out in our
Historical Timeline.

Bell was born in Torphichen in
West Lothian. After
leaving school he first trained to be a stonemason for three years, and then
spent time as an apprentice to his uncle as a millwright. He then became
interested in nautical matters, and went to Borrowstounness, or
Bo'ness, to study the modelling of
ships. Henry then moved to Glasgow, then to London, where he
worked for the Scottish engineer, John
Rennie.

In 1790, at the age of 23, Henry Bell returned to
Glasgow to take up work as a
carpenter. His interest turned to steam powered boats, and he was a regular
correspondent with Robert Fulton, the American engineer who later built the
North River Steamboat and used it to operate the
world's first commercial steamboat service, in New York on 17 August 1807.

In 1800 Bell tried without success to get the British Admiralty to
support studies into the use of steam power in ships. He was also very keen to
understand the work of William
Symington and the boats he had built. He was particularly interested in
discovering how the Charlotte Dundas had worked,
talking at length with those involved in its design and construction.

In 1808 Bell and his wife moved to
Helensburgh, where they
purchased the public baths and a hotel. Bell's wife managed their business
interests in the town, while Bell himself focussed on his passion to build a
successful steamboat, now encouraged by the success of Fulton in New York.

In 1811 Bell commissioned a Port Glasgow shipbuilder, John Wood, to
build a paddle steamer which he called Comet. She
was to be a 30 ton vessel with a 3 horsepower engine. Comet made her delivery trip on 6 August 1812 (according
to some sources), travelling the 21 miles upriver to the Broomielaw, a quay on
the River Clyde in central Glasgow. Two days later she made
the first commercial steamboat journey in Europe, covering the 24 miles from
the Broomielaw to Greenock in
a little under five hours against a headwind. The fare was "four shillings for the best cabin, and three shillings for the
second." This was the start of a regular service between
Glasgow,Greenock and
Helensburgh.

Competitors swiftly followed Bell's lead and by 1816 a number of
operators were offering steamer services using more advanced vessels linking
Glasgow with many destinations
in the Firth of Clyde and as far afield as
Campbeltown and
Inveraray. Bell responded by
offering a service on the Firth of Forth, and then, from September 1819, by
increasing the length and engine power of the Comet and offering a service
taking four days to link Glasgow
to Fort William via
Oban and the
Crinan Canal.

In 1820 the Comet was wrecked in strong currents near
Oban. Its engine was salvaged and went
on to serve in a brewery in Greenock. It is now on display in the Science
Museum in London. Henry Bell build at second Comet
but it did not prove a commercial success. Bell died in
Helensburgh in 1830. He
is remembered by a monument on the sea front there; and a replica of the
original Comet made by shipyard apprentices is now
on display in the centre of Port Glasgow.